Exploring Romani in the British 21th Century

Tag Archives: housing

Plans have been abandoned to create a 10 pitch Gypsy and Traveller site in Efford, Plymouth after council minutes from 30 years ago saying the site was unsuitable have been uncovered.

Cllr Brian Vincent, ward councillor for Efford and Lipson has acknowledged that there is a significant need for provisioned to be made in and around Plymouth for Gypsies and Travellers, however he has helped conclude that as the site was not suitable for habitation 30 years ago when it was first used as a temporary site, it would be ‘unfair’ to continue plans as “People’s aspirations are far greater now.” Instead the £516,000 funding for the Efford site will be used to make improvements at The Ride, Plymouth’s only official site that in May 2012 proved to be an inadequate provision for Devon’s homeless Travellers looking for a legal place to live as it attracts more applications than it has pitches.

“We still have significant need for Gypsy and Traveller sites in Plymouth and finding suitable locations is essential. This will be an important part of the development of the Plymouth Plan and any detailed proposals will be the subject to thorough consultation.” – Cllr Brian Vincent

Plymouth City Council has decided that the brown field site would best serve as a ‘wildlife area’ where nature would be allowed to take control, hoping that £2,000 allocated from the community fund will help turn it into a new home for bats, foxes and badgers.

“We are looking to improve the ecosystem by breaking up the concrete bases of the old shower blocks to encourage a natural progression of wildflowers.” – Cllr Brian Vincent

A success for badgers and opposition group Horseshoe Residents’ Association, but a bleak day for Travellers as the charity Friends, Families and Travellers have been reported to have accused the council of making a short-sighted decision that would increase homelessness.

“It’s deeply disappointing, Homelessness in the travelling community is 25% higher than the fixed community. It’s a desperate situation because those without somewhere permanent to go face an endless cycle of eviction.” Emma Nuttall, Friends, Families and Travellers Advice and Policy manager (via BBC News)

Concerns have also been raised regarding the cost efficiency of the change in proposal with the council reporting to spend between £16,000 and £300,000 a year on processing unauthorised encampments where homeless Travellers have been forced to settle. “We have nowhere else to go and no other choice but to camp on derelict sites” said a local Traveller seeking advice from Friends, Families and Travellers: “it’s impossible to get planning permission anywhere even when we own the land.”

Thanks to the popularity of Channel Four’s Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and the very public expulsion of residents of DDale Farm in Essex, most people now think they know something about Gypsies and Travellers; certainly more than just a few years ago. To some extent this demystification is a good thing, although the means with which this has arisen is questionable. However, it should be remembered that in 2006 the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) concluded that Gypsies and Irish Travellers were the most excluded group in Britain at the time. In the intervening 6 years it appears very little has changed, and in some ways positive in-roads that were being made are now in reverse.

What is equally worrying is that this does not mean only Gypsies and Travellers continue to suffer the consequences of recent developments in policy, we all do.

Research for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has stated that the exclusion of Gypsies and Travellers is particularly acute in the areas of health, education and social care with a key driver of exclusion being the lack of culturally appropriate accommodation available. That is to say, a lack of sites upon which caravans can be lawfully sited.

As a result of legislation and planning guidance between 2006-2010 significant, albeit slow, progress on increasing the number of authorised pitches available was starting to be made. This progress was largely attributable to two reasons. Firstly the duty placed upon local authorities to compile an evidence base about accommodation need (local authorities are still required to do this). Secondly, the presence of the regional tier which helped tackle apparent unequal need and which provided a very useful political scapegoat for local authority officers and elected members when developing local plans. The regional role is now no longer in place since the removal of the Regional Spatial Strategies (RSSs).

With this, and other, changes to the planning process the provision of pitches appears to have slowed even further. Although local authorities are still required to produce an evidence base the sense of urgency about doing so relies on the objectives set by local authorities.

Funding is still available, although much reduced, through the Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant, which continues to help fund the development of new socially rented pitches, and local authorities are incentivised to develop Gypsy and Traveller sites as they can apply the New Homes bonus to every pitch created. It remains to be seen how likely it is that local authorities will take this approach when they could develop nice, familiar and far less politically sensitive bricks and mortar housing.

The costs of moving people – who are arguably – homeless on wheels is becoming increasingly unsustainable in the current climate of resource scarcity; we are all losing here. Gypsies and Travellers lose as they continue to have a lack of available lawful accommodation and are continually vilified for living in overcrowded or unauthorised conditions. The rest of us lose as we continuously live in tension with Gypsies and Travellers who move on to and develop sites without planning permission, we lose the revenue generated by council tax and rent, and we help perpetuate poor outcomes in health and wellbeing for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Tackling and resolving these issues are complex, it always has been. Issuing new guidance on tackling unauthorised encampments is, perhaps, inevitable – being tough on Travellers has been seen to be a vote winner in a past. However, much more would be achieved if as much gusto could go into a concerted effort in meeting the shortfall of accommodation, around 6-7,000 pitches, and creating a pro-active as opposed to reactive approach to working with Gypsy and Traveller communities. Only then will a pathway be provided towards a fairer society for Gypsies and Travellers and everyone else.